


I’ve Been the Archer (I’ve Been the Prey)

by Jen425



Series: To Swap Our Places (See How Deep The Bullet Lies) [1]
Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers, Power Rangers (Boom! Comics), Tokusatsu
Genre: (sort of), ...of sorts, 1969 team used as first 1993 team, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Betrayal, Child Soldiers, Developing Friendships, Evil AU, Gen, Guilt, Hurt No Comfort, Loneliness, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Minor Character Death, Pre-Relationship, Some Events moves around for plot, Tommy Oliver Needs A Hug, jesus FUCK this is dark, so much goddamn angst, there’s a lot of “of sorts” involved in this one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2020-08-12 02:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20129734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/pseuds/Jen425
Summary: Tommy looks down.“I still made my own choices,” he says. “They were just… evil ones.”“And now I give you a new one,” Zordon says. “Fight by the rules of my Rangers and defeat Rita or take this chance to return to a normal life.”A normal life? Impossible.“I’m ready,” Tommy says. “To stop Rita and protect Earth.”Zordon nods.“Then I welcome you,” he says. “Tommy Oliver, Green Ranger of Earth.”Zordon chose different Rangers, and they fell. But the universe has a way of bringing teams together.Sometimes in the worst possible ways.(Or: in which everyone suffers, and some people die.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You may have noticed that I haven’t posted much, recently.
> 
> This is why.
> 
> This fic, currently at over 13k words and still not done, has been the project of several weeks of writing and even more of planning, and it only covers about two thirds of S1.
> 
> This is partially inspired by the rather interesting idea that, across the multiverse and despite anything, Tommy Oliver is always good, and the reason for that is that he knows how to work with a team.
> 
> So what if I took that team away?
> 
> I also wanted to play with a world that primarily had EVIL Rangers, where the one or two good members of he team are constantly struggling to scrape through victories that went to teams with only so much effort. With a world where evil Rangers can get away with more before they’re stopped.
> 
> And I wanted a shit ton of angst.
> 
> Each season of Power Rangers will have two primary narrators (except MMPR S1, which will have three once I write the Grace prequel to this fic). They will often overlap.
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy this mess of a monster fic!

“We’re seriously moving to Angel Grove?” Tommy asks. His mom nods.

“Yes, we are,” she says.

“Isn’t that where the monsters have been attacking, the past month?” Tommy asks.

“Yes, it is,” his mom says again. “But that means that there’s more job openings, there, and your uncles will be nearby.”

“Uncle Don hates me,” Tommy argues.

“No, Tommy, he doesn’t,” his mom says, firmly. Then, quietly, she adds, “Besides, I think we both need the fresh start, and, this time, we’ll actually stay. And John lives nearby, too.”

Tommy huffs a laugh. She’s said that before, but he’s stopped believing her.

“Please, Tommy,” his mom says again. Tommy sighs.

“Fine,” he says. “I’ll be fine.”

* * *

  


The day before they move, on his way home, Tommy is ambushed by strange grey creatures. He takes them all out, but he’s panting, by the end.

“Perfect,” says a voice, behind him. Tommy flips around. An Asian woman in a large, pinkish brown dress, hair tied into devil’s horn like forms on her head and holding a golden staff in her right hand, stands there. She smiles in a way that has Tommy instinctively taking a step back.

“You’re perfect,” the woman says.

“For what?” Tommy asks, tensing even more. There’s just something about this woman…

She smiles.

“To be my evil Green Ranger, of course,” she says.

Green shadow (and how is that a thing but it so clearly _ is _) surrounds him, pulls him apart.

He screams.

* * *

  


Under the spell, things are easy. His mind is linked with Rita’s, and much of her knowledge is his and vice versa.

A putty had impersonated him, for the days it had taken to settle the complex spell of loyalty, corruption, and connection.

Tommy goes through the motions of signing up for and starting at Angel Grove. It’s even shortly before the beginning of the school year, thankfully, so that makes it easier.

On the other hand, there’s no time to sleep between that and fighting the Rangers. And planning.

On day four of actively serving his Empress, she gives him the Sword of Darkness.

And now things are even easier.

* * *

  


“What?” Asks Red, stumbling back. “Destroying the Sword should have freed you.”

Tommy _ laugh _.

“The Sword made things easier for my Empress,” he says. “Nothing more. Now you, and all your team, will _ die _.”

He plays his Dagger, getting his Zord back on its feet. This time, the Megazord loses and falls apart, as Tommy focuses on Red. It’s hand to hand, again, until she manages to summon her sword, and he takes her from it and stabs her through with it.

“You!” Growls Blue. Pink is already shooting at him. Tommy laughs.

“Yes, me,” he says. “I am the Green Ranger, and I will destroy you all!”

* * *

  


Yellow is the last Ranger standing, and he surprises Tommy by demorphing.

“I don’t know you,” he says, “But you’re just a kid. I know it’s gonna be hard to deal with the aftermath, so, please, let me help you. Just put down the dagger.”

Tommy smiles under his helmet, lifting his Dagger in slow and careful irony. (Why is his hand shaking?)

“No can do,” he says. “You are my enemy!”

“I’m trying to help you!” Yellow cries. “The Power doesn’t choose bad people. I know you know what you’re doing is wrong.”

Tommy shakes his head.

“No!” He screams. He plays his Dagger, and Yellow cries out in pain as he’s sent flying, without the protection of his suit.

(And why does that hurt? Why has this whole battle just… torn at something deep inside of him? He’s evil. He’s Rita’s.

…Right?)

Tommy stalks forwards, holding Yellow down as he stabs him through both the heart and the stomach.

“I’m Evil,” he says, but, as he watches Yellow die, turns around and looks at the others… something snaps. Violently.

For a second, Tommy can’t even remember who he is.

And then he’s pulled away for the first time by a flash of light, and not a flash of darkness.

* * *

  


“You are free from Rita’s spell,” is the first thing Zordon says to him. Tommy nods.

“Yes, I am,” he says. “I… I looked at them, their bodies, and I…”

He chokes back a sob.

“I’m so sorry,” he says. “Nothing can make up for what I’ve done.”

The destruction, all the people he hadn’t even thought about killing… and the Rangers, killed one by one with the bloodied Dragon Dagger he still holds clenched in one hand.

Whatever Zordon does next, he will deserve it.

“They were not your own actions, Tommy Oliver,” Zordon says. “But the actions of Rita Repulsa.”

Tommy looks down.

“I still made my own choices,” he says. “They were just… evil ones.”

“And now I give you a new one,” Zordon says. “Fight by the rules of my Rangers and defeat Rita or take this chance to return to a normal life.”

A normal life? Impossible.

“I’m ready,” Tommy says. “To stop Rita and protect Earth.”

Zordon nods.

“Then I welcome you,” he says. “Tommy Oliver, Green Ranger of Earth.”

* * *

  


The Power Coins are gone. Rita had taken them from the Rangers’ corpses while Tommy had spoken to Zordon. Is it wrong that a small piece of Tommy is grateful for that?

He won’t have to fight alongside people wearing the suits of those he had personally killed.

But mostly he’s worried. Rita continues to send down monsters, and Tommy and his Dragonzord continue to face them, occasionally with the help of the other Dino Zords, remotely activated.

How long before she uses her new Ultimate Weapon?

Tommy doesn’t know, Zordon doesn’t know.

It’s terrifying.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy begins to fight for good.
> 
> (But Green Ranger opinions become even lower if you’ve killed the real heroes.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally finished the fic, which means WEEKLY UPDATES!
> 
> Sorry it took me almost a year tho.

His new life begins. Alpha gives Tommy a spare communicator, which attaches to and hides the true form of his morpher through technology having been created by the Red and Blue Rangers. It’s a teleporter, too. Much less draining to use than his own Ranger suit’s natural capabilities.

And there’s one advantage that Tommy hadn’t expected. Rita has forgotten his real name and out-of-suit appearance. She doesn’t know who he is. And she’d only called him Green Ranger around the others.

As far as civilian life goes, it… doesn’t. Tommy just can’t bring himself to make friends after all he’s done. Or to practice Karate with actual sentients when he can still remember…

He’s the quiet new kid, and he’s fine with that.

(He’s always that, after all.)

Meanwhile, he tries to act normal around his mom. She’s not stupid, she can see that something happened. But he can’t tell her what.

So it sits like a weight between them, and a great divide.

  
  
  


“So this will reinforce the Command Center’s protective shielding?” Tommy asks. He’s still not the best with the Command Center tech, but he doesn’t have a choice other than to learn.

“Right, Tommy,” Alpha says. “Now Rita’s Power Coins will no longer register as safe to our systems, or her magic.”

Tommy breathes a sigh of not-quite-relief.

“Well,” he says. “At least that’s one thing we won’t have to worry about, when Rita activates the other Power Coins.”

It’s been over a month, and Tommy can just  _ feel _ it coming, soon. He almost wishes they’d just show up to kill the  _ waiting _ and the endless fights with Rita’s monsters.

(He’ll regret that wish, very soon.)

  
  
  


“Here you go,” Tommy says, helping the woman out of a wrecked building. If he can, he always stays, after battles, to help clean up the damaged and rescue the injured.

Megazord fights aren’t without their losses, after all.

(Can he count it as “always” after only five battles in nine days, though? It feels like an eternity, since he was first taken.)

“Thank you,” the woman replies, in Spanish. Honestly, one of the hardest parts of being a Ranger is hearing words in another language, recognizing the language and the words physically spoken, and yet conceptualizing the words as if they were spoken in English.

Tommy smiles, even though he knows she can’t see it.

“I try to help, Ma’am,” he says, and then he runs off.

(66 people died, from that fight. Tommy can’t help but blame himself.)

  
  
  


The very nature of his nightmares keeps them silent, and isn’t that wonderfully ironic and even more painful? Sleep is hard to come by, and it’s one of the easiest things to accept the loss of.

Far more painful is the loneliness.

There’s no human alive who can understand, and talking to Zordon is… it’s easier than it should be, but it still  _ aches _ , with the weight of his past actions. He’s distinctly ruined, and he’s a certain form of alone.

It hurts like nothing else ever has.

  
  
  


One advantage of the Power is how quickly it heals his injuries. Even deeper cuts or burns from his suit’s protections imploding disappear in mere hours.

That doesn’t stop the broken arm from hurting like hell as he rebreaks and sets it, after the fight.

By now, it’s been almost three weeks since he’d first been chosen. Twenty days. More than two Universal Standard weeks.

It’s also a Friday, and that’s a good thing because it’ll take at least 24 hours for his arm to heal, and even that process is apparently going to be painful.

“I’m going to stay here,” he says. “It’ll probably be my best bet. And I can help fix everything I… everything I destroyed.”

“I admire your diligence, Tommy,” Zordon says. “And your helpfulness, but you should spend this night recovering.”

Tommy just shakes his head. He doesn’t deserve it.

“There’s nothing I want to do more than help fix things,” he says.

After that, he starts staying, every Friday night.

  
  
  


“But the question still remains,” the reporter says. “Is the Green Ranger friend or foe of Earth?”

Tommy resists the urge to growl or turn the TV off. His mom, in a supreme act of ironic coincidence, had become interested in the Power Rangers, and she’s watching the special report on the subject, as he gets back from the battle.

This is the third time this has happened.

“I’m home,” he says. His mom turns around, smiling.

“Tommy,” she says. “Did you see the news?”

“Yeah,” Tommy says. “The Green Ranger saved a city in Japan.”

“I don’t know why some people just trust him,” she continues. “There were 126 confirmed dead, today. He should be more careful.”

Yeah. It was… a very long fight, and Tommy honestly doesn’t have the energy to deal with this, even if she’s completely right.

“He’s doing what he can,” Tommy says. “For whatever reason, he’s all we have.”

  
  
  


“And done!” Alpha says, voice noticeably pleased, in that impressively emotive way that Tommy had once thought impossible, for robots.

“Great,” he says. “This’ll give me manual control of the Zords.”

”I couldn’t have done it without your help, though,” Alpha says.

“You will have control when necessary, yes,” Zordon says. “But, most importantly, it—”

“Keeps the Zords out of the hands of Rita’s Rangers,” Tommy finishes. Then he realizes that he’s interrupted, and immediately adds a “Sorry, Zordon.”

“It is alright, Tommy,” Zordon says. “I know that you are as dedicated as I am, to preventing Rita from subjugating Earth.”

Tommy nods.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” he says. “…Within the Ranger code.”

Zordon vaguely smiles. It’s sometimes hard to see the alien’s mouth through the tube, but he manages.

“I would expect nothing less,” he says. “You are a good person, Tommy.”

Tommy lets out a choked laugh that obviously shows how little he believes Zordon’s compliment. Though, really, his mentor can’t possibly mean it. After all, Rita chose him for a reason.

  
  
  


Tommy’s panting and half-collapsed, by the time he destroys the monster. (What’s its name? Something about poetry, judging by the words and puns.)

Time to watch the monster grow before calling his Zord.

It’s funny, none of the Rangers’ battles had lasted very long, but, then again, they had their kill all Power Blaster.

…No. No going there during a battle. Or even just during the aftermath. This is his own fault, anyways.

…And there’s the supermonster. Tommy takes his Dagger, playing the familiar melody. Just another day of long fights and bad excuses.

If he weren’t all Earth had, he’d want it to just… end.

  
  
  


“I’m sorry, could you remind me of the code?” Tommy asks, as he help Alpha calibrate another replacement console. This would be so much easier if he hadn’t been so destructive, or if there was someone who knew what they were doing, to help.

If there was someone to help.

“The code is 217-AB6,” Alpha repeats, for at least the fourth time. Tommy has to give the robot credit, for his patience with him.

“Thanks,” he says. “Man, I feel like I’m just forgetting stuff all the time, lately. Important stuff, too.”

Like his morpher. Several times. Probably his homework, when school starts. And don’t forget his secret identity, almost, in the aftermath of most of his fights.

“I have wondered why Rita experienced backlash from her spell, and you did not,” Zordon says. “Perhaps this may be the response.”

“And I just didn’t notice,” Tommy says. “Because I forgot… well it could be worse.”

That would… actually explain a lot, really.

Amazing what has become good news, after everything.

  
  
  


“I don’t like this,” Tommy says, once they’ve hit the one month anniversary of his being freed. “Why isn’t Rita using the Power Coins.”

“She might be looking for the perfect Rangers,” Zordon says. “It was some months before you were chosen, after all.”

Tommy sighs.

“Trust me, I know,” he says. “The first thing she ever said to me was ‘you’re perfect’.”

He still doesn’t know why; why he was chosen, why she watched him. He wonders if it would be better or worse, to know.

“We must simply keep our guard up,” Zordon says. “For whenever Rita next attacks.”

Tommy nods.

“I’ll be ready,” he says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being the new kid is always hard. It’s even harder while wrestling with guilt and the weight of the world.
> 
> (But it’s a little bit easier if there are five teenagers with attitude destined for a Sixth.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look a happy chapter!
> 
> The only one.

Tommy has no idea what convinced him to sign up for the tournament. Truly, it was a moment of sheer self hatred and stupidity.

But… it’s a certain form of challenging that Tommy hadn’t expected, fighting to his full human potential without pulling on the increased capabilities of the Power.

He makes it to the final round and finds himself up against Jason Lee Scott. He’d heard of Jason. Maybe, before… they could have been friends.

As it is, though, Tommy finds himself tied. And impressed by Jason’s skill. He barely has to hold back his Ranger powers. And there’s this… spark, he can sense in Jason, like a connection waiting to form.

But, after the match, he all but runs away. He doesn’t… it was all wearing on his carefully cultivated control.

  
  
  


“Thanks for the help,” the girl in Pink says. Tommy smiles.

“I’m sure you could have handled it,” he says. “But I was happy to lend a hand.”

The girl smiles back, holding out her hand.

“I’m Kimberly, by the way,” she says. Tommy takes her hand.

“I’m Tommy,” he says. He can’t help but smile, around her. It’s like… the same spark as with Jason, but different, and…

It scares him.

“Well,” he says, turning around. “See you around.”

“Yeah,” Kimberly replies. “Wait.”

Tommy stops.

“You wanna meet me and some friends at the juice bar after school tomorrow?” Kimberly asks. Tommy turns around, and there’s still that spark, that  _ pull _ …

“Sure,” Tommy says.

He’s probably going to regret this.

  
  
  


Tommy finds himself surprised, the next day, when he…  _ doesn’t  _ regret it. Kim, Jason, and their friends, Trini, Zack, and Billy, are… nice, and fun, and welcoming.

And they come with that same… spark.

Even when it becomes a bit too much, and Tommy can’t follow their conversation, anymore.

Even though he doesn’t talk much, unable to pretend that the past month has been normal.

Even when he refuses the spar with Jason, because he’s wearing red, almost always, and there’s a part of Tommy who’s begun to see the world in Ranger Colors that can’t divorce that from the Red Ranger.

But… it is nice. He’s looking forward to spending more time with them.

  
  
  


“Rita won’t have anything like the Sword of Darkness, this time,” Tommy says, with a sudden terrible realization. “If she chooses mind control, for her Rangers, it’ll be so much harder to free them.”

“I have considered this,” Zordon says. “For only those with good hearts can access the Morphing Grid.”

“And those with good hearts won’t exactly follow an evil space witch, willingly,” Tommy continues. “So… what’s the answer?”

“There is no simple answer,” Zordon says. “Not until it becomes necessary to ask the question.”

…Naturally.

  
  
  


Zack is loud and fun and friendly, and it’s oddly comforting? It might just be that Tommy’s never really made friends before, moved too much for it to be worth it, except with people, well… like Zack.

And, yes, the whole group is friendly, but Zack is… more clear about it.

“I like people,” Zack explains, simply. “But, I’ll admit, I won’t hesitate, if you hurt one of us.”

Tommy nods, taking his words probably more seriously than Zack because Tommy know what he’s capable of (and he hates it).

“I swear,” he says. “I won’t hurt anyone, especially you guys.”

(Monsters are, of course, the one necessary exception.)

(Yet Another thing that will break him, later.)

  
  
  


“This isn’t going well,” Tommy says, as his Dragonzord falls back. “I think it’s time for a Megazord.”

Of course, for him, it’s not as simple as “We need Dino Zord Power, now!” These aren’t his Zords, and his Zord doesn’t work like the others, which return to a bunker in the Command Center, after battles, and come when called.

So he calls them, in his way, with careful melodies that he could never play, without the Power to help him.

And he jumps into his Megazord, for the first time.

  
  
  


Tommy finds himself liking Trini, a lot. Either she or Kimberly is the best at reading him, but Kimberly has a habit of… pushing.

(And that in and of itself would be nice if it weren’t for the fact that he can’t tell her what’s bothering him.)

But Trini doesn’t asks, just quietly changes the subject.

She’s also a martial artist, Tai Chi rather than Karate or Zack’s original style. And she’s skilled, too. In fact, she’s the one who successfully convinces him to spar with her.

She’s… refreshing.

  
  
  


“You have less difficulties comprehending my manner of speech than most,” Billy says. Tommy shrugs.

“I think the others do, too,” he says. “They just don’t realize it. But I have a mentor, of sorts, that speaks pretty formally, so…”

“A reasonable conclusion,” Billy says. Tommy has the sudden realization that this is the first time in two and a half weeks that it’s been just the two of them, and he says as much.

“I suppose this necessitates bonding activities,” Billy says. Tommy shrugs.

“Maybe just asking a couple questions,” he says. “I haven’t exactly known you, very long. You can go first.”

Billy hmms.

“Outside of martial arts,” Billy says. “What are your hobbies and aspirations?”

Tommy laughs.

“Well,” he says. “I’ve been thinking about prehistoric creatures, recently…”

  
  
  


Tommy supposes that training with holograms and fighting with monsters would come back to bite him in the butt when sparring with a human. And of course it happens with Jason, in Red. He barely holds onto the present, as he apologizes.

“Sorry, man,” he says, helping Jason to his feet. “I don’t know what came over me. That was a cheap shot.”

Jason takes his hand, but waves off the apology.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean to, bro,” he says. “It’s cool. But maybe we should take a break.”

Tommy nods.

“Yeah,” he says. As if by fate, his communicator beeps, just then. Tommy sighs.

“Actually,” he says. “I just realized I got to be somewhere. See you tomorrow?”

Jason nods.

“Sure, man,” he says. “See you tomorrow.”

  
  
  


His new friends don’t know it, but they help him heal. Kimberly, pulling him into their established group. Zack, friendly and familiar and loyal, all at once. Trini, whose silence spoke of her understanding but who also knew when to speak. Billy, so smart and surprised that Tommy could even understand him. Jason, who knew how to guide, always.

They help him grow, too. In the month that he gets to know all of them.

And then things begin to fall and crash and  _ burn _ .

They’re Rangers, together and always.

(But look who has the proper coins.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …foreshadowing


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rita finally chose her Rangers.
> 
> (Some things are destined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for pain?

“Rita’s past two monsters were weaker than normal,” Tommy says. “I’m not sure if I’m grateful or nervous.”

“A wise choice,” Zordon says. “We must keep our guard up, but, for now, enjoy your free time. I see that your friends are a good influence on you, after all.”

Tommy just hmms.

“You think so?” He asks.

“Rangers are not made to fight alone, Tommy,” Zordon says. “It seems you found a team, even without powers.”

Tommy laughs. 

“I’m not fully alone,” he says. “I’ve got you guys.”

He hugs Alpha, still grinning.

“Ai-ai-ai,” Alpha says.

Of course, things are about to go terribly wrong.

  
  
  


Kimberly asks him on a date, about a month after he meets her, and Tommy has no idea why he says yes, but he does. The day after next, because he has to train at the Command Center, tomorrow.

But…

He doesn’t end up making it. Because there’s a monster attack.

Because of  _ course _ there is.

But there’s just something… different about it…

“Power Bow!”

An energy bolt hits him in the side, and he spins around.

There stands a Red  _ and _ a Pink Ranger.

“So Rita chose her Rangers?” Tommy asks, growling. The Rangers jump to either side of the monster.

“Just me and Red, so far,” says Pink, every movement a bit too relaxed for a fight, but controlled, and obviously dangerous, if Rita chose her. Tommy points to them.

“I won’t let you destroy Earth!” He declares. Pink laughs.

“You don’t have a choice,” she says.

  
  
  


“What type of spell does Rita even have you under?” Tommy asks Red.

“None,” Red says. “I serve Empress Rita because she is good!”

Tommy is very tempted to point out that Rita had used a  _ corruption _ spell to get Pink to work for her, but he knows how painful spell-Fighting headaches are.

“She’s trying to destroy Earth,” he says, instead, barely blocking Red’s next blow. Summoning his dagger had been a smart choice, Red is better at hand to hand than with his Power Sword.

“She’s trying to reshape it,” Red counters. Tommy growls, jumping back to give more signals to the Dragonzord, in its fight against the Now-grown Monster of the Day. He barely dodges a blast from Pink, but he blasts her right back, running after her as she goes flying, and jamming his dagger straight through her suit and into her shoulder. Even with Ranger healing, it’ll take hours to heal.

But then… then he freezes. He doesn’t know why, maybe it’s the blood? The dagger in a Pink Ranger’s flesh?

He hurt her…

“And you call yourself the good guy?” Red asks, from behind him. The monster is killed. Tommy…

He teleports away.

  
  
  


“Do not blame yourself for what happened today, Tommy,” Zordon says. Tommy sighs, setting his helmet down on the ground but not demorphing, not yet.

He needs the strength right now just to stand.

“How can I fight them if I freeze each time I hurt them?” He asks. “All I could see was the last Pink Ranger, choking…”

Choking on his own blood.

“You are strong, Tommy,” Zordon says. “And I believe in you. However, I know that your beginning continues to haunt you, recent as it is.”

Tommy laughs. It’ll probably always haunt him.

“I don’t know what I should do,” he says.

“I cannot tell you what choices you must make,” Zordon says. “But I can tell you… I would proudly have chosen you to be a Power Ranger.”

Tommy nods, smiling and letting his morph fall.

“Thanks,” he says, just as Alpha walks back in. “Well?”

“Ai-ai-ai,” Alpha says. “Tommy, the DNA matching systems are still broken.”

On top of every other precaution Rita’s put on her Rangers’ identities.

Tommy sighs. Great, well, there goes his chance of finding out who Pink is.

“Can you fix it?” He asks. “Or do I need to find you parts?”

He wishes he could be more help. Maybe someone smarter than him could have helped Alpha fix the Command Center, but…

“No, Tommy,” Alpha says. “It’ll just take a day or two.”

Tommy breathes a sigh of relief. At least things aren’t impossible.

  
  
  


Tommy calls Kimberly, that night.

“Hey, Kim,” he says.

“Hey, Tommy,” Kimberly replies. “I’m sorry about our date, something came up, and I couldn’t come.”

“It’s fine,” Tommy replies. “Actually, I was calling to tell you the same. Mind telling me what it was?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Kimberly snaps. Tommy blinks. What?

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“And what about you, huh?” Kimberly asks. “What was so important that you couldn’t make it, either?”

“I can’t tell you,” Tommy says. “I’m sorry.”

Kimberly laughs, cruelly.

“I’m sure,” she says. “See you tomorrow, Tommy.”

She hangs up before Tommy can even actually say goodbye.

“Are you gonna tell  _ me _ why you didn’t make your date with the nice girl?” Tommy’s mom asked, surprising him.

“Mom,” he says. “I didn’t know you were home.”

His mom smiles.

“I can see that.” He face falls. “Tommy, please, what’s been going on with you? You haven’t been the same since we moved.”

Tommy sighs, he desperately wants to tell her, but…

“I made a mistake,” he says. It’s easier to say that than “I killed five people personally and hundreds died because of me”. “I can’t tell you more.”

His mom sits down next to him, and he flinches, when she puts her hand on his shoulder.

“Tommy, are you in trouble?” She asks. Tommy shakes his head.

“No.”

Yes, but not in any way that she might think. Tommy sighs, forcing himself to meet his mom’s gaze.

“I can’t explain, Mom,” he says. “But, what I’m doing, it… it does protect people.”

He doesn’t know how he convinces her. He’s not sure if it truly does. But she says “okay” and leaves it alone. And that is as much as he can wish, right now.

Things will only get worse from here.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang’s all here.
> 
> (In more way than one.)

About mid way through the school day, a monster attacks, and Tommy slips out of the evacuation to the monster shelter in the typical chaos.

Pink isn’t there, he notices. Instead, Red and  _ Yellow _ stand beside the monster. Which is… not positive in any way, shape, or form. More Rangers is more enemies that make him freeze, and, because of himself, he’s all that stands between them and the end of the world.

Yellow looks away from the violence the monster is causing, as if she hates it, and Tommy assumes a loyalty spell, like with Red. But he can use that, having trained to master his suit’s inherent functions of enhancing his own natural strength, speed, stamina, and fighting capabilities.

She’s skilled, though. And Tommy already knew that Red was strong.

But he manages to knock Red down with his Dagger.

“Jason!” Yellow cries, and her distraction is enough for him to knock her away, too, for him to finish off the monster.

(He doesn’t dwell too much on the name, since it’s common enough, but he doesn’t forget, either.)

  
  
  


“I’m sorry about not calling to cancel class, yesterday,” Tommy overhears Jason say to Ernie, when they head to the Juice Bar after school. “Something came up.”

Ernie waves him off.

“I’m sure you had a reason,” he says. “You’re a good kid, Jason.”

There’s more, but Tommy tunes it out.

Then he realizes something.

“Hey,” he says. “Where are Zack and Billy?”

“Billy went home, to work on a project,” Trini says. “Zack… I actually don’t know.”

“He said he had something with his family,” Kimberly says, shrugging, “Nothing big.”

Tommy frowns. Kimberly has been acting strange, all day, but he can’t quite figure out why. And not just with him, either. In fact, it had been Zack who pointed it out, at lunch.

He makes a note to asks Trini, soon, and he hopes he doesn’t forget it.

  
  
  


On Fridays, and, as usual, he spends the night at the Command Center. He doesn’t  _ think _ she knows, and it’s probably better that way.

He teleports there, after saying goodbye to the others. He feels like he forgot something, but that’s become a familiar sensation.

Because of course Rita wasn’t the only one with memories garbled from his escape. And of course his problem is permanent.

Naturally.

Tommy walks over to Alpha, on the monitor.

“Are the scans done?” He asks.

“Not yet, Tommy,” Alpha says. “But I will tell you when they are.”

Tommy nods.

“Thanks,” he says. “I’m gonna go train. Let me know when they’re finished?”

“Yes, Tommy,” Alpha says.

  
  
  


Tommy lands on his butt as the holographic Red stands over him, internally cursing.

He still can’t seem to fight them, fully. Even a fucking  _ hologram _ . The same thing happened with Pink. And Yellow. And the Blue and Black he did, just in case.

“Give me all of them,” he says. The holographic setup resets as requested.

He  _ can _ fight them, at least those Rita’s chosen so far, all of them recreated here, including what he knows of their styles.

They’re too realistic. He knocks Yellow back, and Pink runs up to her.

“Are you alright?” Pink asks. Tommy freezes. It  _ couldn’t  _ be…

They used the Rangers’ sound bites, for this.

“Kim,” Tommy whispers.

Just then, the simulation freezes.

“Tommy,” Alpha says. “The scans are complete.”

  
  
  


He’s right. Because of course he is. Because Kimberly Hart is the Pink Ranger.

And he remembers the fight, earlier that day. Yellow called Red “Jason…”

“Zordon,” Tommy says. “I think I know who the other Rangers are. Alpha, Can you check the planet for my friends’ bio signs?”

Again, he’s right. Because of course he is. Because his friends are his team are the other Rangers.

Evil. A rainbow of dangerous opponents that stand on the villain’s side. And most definitely not by choice, not if he knows his new friends at all.

“I’m sorry, Tommy,” Zordon says. “This must be quite a blow.”

Tommy sighs.

“I’ll be alright,” he says. “Now, what do I do?”

“That decision is up to you, Tommy,” Zordon says. Tommy laughs.

“I figured,” he says. He can hear the bite in his words, but he can’t bring himself to care.

“I can’t tell them who I am,” Tommy says. “This is one of my only advantages. I guess… I have to save them.”

But how? He doesn’t know.

  
  
  


Sure enough the Black and the Blue Rangers join the team, the next day. In some ways, it’s easier to fight them, now that he knows. He has a goal, after all.

Figure out a way to save them other than, well… dying, to shock them out of it.

Nobody should have to go through that.

Blue -  _ Billy _ is easier to subdue, and a part of Tommy files that away for “ways to help my friends after I save them.”

Zack is next, his method somewhere between fighting and dancing, dangerous, but… well, Tommy’s become familiar with it.

Then Trini. Yellow. God, it feels like a nightmare just thinking about it.

Kimberly.

And then Jason. That was difficult. In the end, it takes baiting him by shooting at the others, but he gets the Rangers out of the way.

“Why are you fighting for Rita?” Tommy asks them, one by one.

“We both fight for the cause of darkness,” Billy says.

“She believes in me,” Zack says. “And she’s helping the planet!”

“To help heal the Earth,” Trini says. “Humans can’t do it, after all.”

“She’s evil,” Kimberly says. “I’m evil. It seems pretty simple, to me.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Jason says.

Tommy has to hold back a laugh.

  
  
  


In the end, he succeeds at destroying the monster. An hour later, he meets up with his friends at the park. They act normal, really, even if Kimberly and Billy are crueler, and Tommy wishes he could just… ignore what he knows until he has an answer.

But he can’t. He notices that Billy’s still limping, and Trini is only using her left arm unless it’s necessary to use her right.

He doesn’t comment.

Instead, they hang out, act like the teens they aren’t, anymore. The teens that they can never be again because an alien witch had kidnapped and enchanted them.

And he hopes he can find a way to help them.

  
  
  


This becomes the new normal, and a cure is not fast in coming. There’s no simple cure to spells like these, just a victim’s choice, and, without the grounding but painfully broken base of something like the Sword of Darkness, it’s all up to them.

So he fights them, whenever they show up. He doesn’t, he  _ can’t _ bring himself to kill them, but he at least manages to take out the monsters.

Meanwhile, in civilian life, they remain his friends. It’s a painful sort of irony, and Tommy forces himself to live with it. He can’t explain suddenly not wanting to hang out with them, and watching them has given him clues to many of their plans.

He doesn’t know how much he can take.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @flaim-ita


End file.
